Clap Your Hands Say Yeah | Higher Ground | Apr 12th

Seacrest: OK. First up tonight...Elvis Perkins in Dreamland.

Randy: Yo Yo Dog. What's happening tonight? Yo Dog, listen, you brought it tonight. It was a bit pitchy in spots but, you know, it was just a'right for me. I like what you're doing with the whole band thing. It works for me. Paula?

Paula: Elvis, you gave it up. You did your best. You smiled and had so much fun. You were wonderful. Simon?

Simon: Very good. I like the transition you're making from being a Dylan replica to a Neutral Milk Hotel replica. You just need to work more on finding your own sound and keep writing the good songs.

Seacrest: OK. Next up tonight...Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

Randy: Yo Dog. [heavy sigh, head cocks to the side and hands start wiggling] It was a bit pitchy in spots, you know. Uh, in fact, it was actually pitchy the whole time. I don't know Dog. It didn't work for me. The runs were tight but I don't know if you care. You know what I mean, Dog? I don't know. It just wasn't a'right for me. Paula?

Paula: It's a tough night. I know you've been playing so much, you must be tired. You need to bring out that beautiful you and smile some more. Robbie's the only one smiling. I know you guys can do better.

Simon: Look. You can't charge Sonic Youth prices, start an hour late, look bored on stage and expect to have a career. You have very good songs that are fun to hear but you have to at least appear interested in playing for us. Robbie seems to want to be here. The rest of you need to talk to him some more. I've seen you do much better. Take some time off maybe.

Seacrest: Ooooh. Tough words from a little man. That's it for tonight. Seacrest out!

Kris Gruen | Langdon Street Cafe | Apr 20th

Trying to figure out the best way to ride your 4:20 buzz? Well, one good option is rolling over to Langdon Street Cafe to catch Kris Gruen on Friday night. The Bowmans are playing right before him too. I caught this double bill a few months ago at Langdon Street and it was a good night of music that fits right in with the Langdon atmosphere...and that should be an interesting atmosphere on 4:20.

Here are two clips from that show.

Kris Gruen doing "Tender Theory":


The Bowmans doing "To Rise":

Messi Goal

In the post about the MLS goals, TK left a comment about Lional Messi's goal the other day against Getafe. It's an amazing 60 yard run that immediately brings back thoughts of Maradona.

Jackson Browne Mania

It's rare that a big name comes to play a show in Barre, VT. People still talk about the Johnny Cash and Harry Belafonte shows and those were decades ago. Well, Jackson Browne is now coming to the Barre Opera Housae on June 9th and 10th to do a benefit show for L.A.C.E. (Local Agricultural Community Exchange) and people are going ga-ga for tickets.

I knew he was coming to town and he was popular but it really hit me when I noticed all of the pleas for tickets on craigslist. People are offering $175 and $250 a ticket but here's my favorite posting:

Spectacular Trade Offer: If you have Stellar Jackson Browne Seats - $1
Reply to: sale-310842291@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-04-12, 7:13PM EDT


I am a VIP ticket holder for the Oakland Arena in Oakland...Roger Waters is bringing his "Dark Side Of The Moon" show to this venue 7/1...Includes Vip Club access, seperate enterance and parking...saw his show last year at an outdoor venue...SPECTACULAR...he has original Floyd drummer Nick Mason playing with him as well as several guests. 3 hours solid...no opening act.

Here is the deal...I lived in New Hampshire for awhile prior to moving to the San Francisco Bay Area...I am a huge Jackson Browne fan and have seen and met him numerous times...If you have premium tickets as I do...I will consider a trade and include airfare and possibly accomodations if the deal works fairly...my VIP seats are in the finest location in the Arena...I have a pair or 4 in the most sought after seats in the house...I have saved a pair for myself...as I wouldn't think of letting this show slip by...a MUST SEE.

If indeed you are serious...get back to me via e-mail or call me at (510)469-6123

Take care...hope to see you on the dark side of the moon!

Holy crap.

MLS Week 1 Goals

The first goal by Sacha Kljestan was the goal of the week.

Geez, those football lines in Salt Lake City are ugly. Someone needs to pony up the bucks to paint that field for the season.



Courtesy of Climbing the Ladder

Pond Skimming at Bolton Valley

Yesterday, we spent Easter Sunday up at Bolton Valley watching the pond skimming competition. It was a fun way to end the ski season. Although with the temperatures around 32°, a steady wind and constant snow showers, it felt more like the middle of the ski season rather than the end of it.

I would have loved to have been able to edit all of these videos togther into one long montage but I don't have the knowledge or software to pull that off. So, instead you get a post with twelve embedded YouTube videos in it.

First up is a lady who went with the Easter theme and dressed as a bunny. This was one of the best face plants of the day.


The snowboarders definitely had an advantage skidding over the pond. This guy was so cavalier that he even kicked up a big splash right over a bunch of the judges at the end.


I was glad to see Ronaldino was represented on the pond.


This guy tried it backwards. A+ for effort.


Ninja with a flag. He sinks more than crashes.


Why are penguins all of a sudden so popular? They're everywhere these days.


Ben the Moose came so close to making it. I was just impressed that the person was able to snowboard down wearing that big moose head.


This guy did it in just shorts which would have made for an entertaining crash but he cruised right over.


The Boy Wonder glides right over but wipes out on the jump.


This guy tried it on one ski which got him about five feet into the pond.


Go Go Go-Cart. This one was a big hit with my son.


And lastly, the pirate ship came down as the grand finale.

Wynalda Interview

Since MLS' season started this past weekend, I thought I'd finally get around to posting the link to this fun interview with ESPN soccer analyst and all-time leading US National Team goal scorer, Eric Wynalda. This is another reason to love soccer. Name another sport where the top TV analyst sits down for beers and an interview with someone from a fan website and proceeds to let every opinion and profanity fly. Wynalda even ends the interview with " Alright, let’s go take a piss and get another beer."

By the way, ESPN suspended Wynalda for a game for this interview.

Beers with Wynalda

Junior Boys to Play Easter Burlington Show

I don't know about bunnies and pastel eggs, but I'm quite certain there will be plenty of hip shaking on Sunday night when the fine Canadian duo Junior Boys play the small room at Higher Ground with San Serac. Laptop music isn't usually my thing, especially live, but Junior Boys' last two records, Last Exit and So This Is Goodbye, are entirely infectious. I can't get enough of their white boy soul layed over electronic pop beats.

Below are the finalists in the Junior Boys video contest. The first one, "So This Is Goodbye," has the greatest stop motion since The Wizard of Speed and Time. Pretty great project with awesome results:

Cold War Kids | Tokyo Police Club | Delta Spirit | Higher Ground | Apr 1st

Yes. That is a keg. And, yes, that's a bass drum being waived in the air in the background. And, yes, that's general bedlam on stage during Cold War Kids' set. However, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back up.

On Sunday night, I caught the trio of bands in the title of this post at Higher Ground. In general, I had a great time during the show but here are a few more specific thoughts about the night:

- I had thought there was just two bands on the bill. So, when I arrived and saw some other band strolling onto stage, my first thought was, "Oh, crap. I gotta wait through these guys." Thankfully, that thought wound up being hideously wrong because I loved Delta Spirit's set. Lots of multiple percussion and off-mic singing from the other band members.

While not anything groundbreaking, it felt passionate and seemed to draw in the rest of the crowd. One guy with a bit of excitement in his voice yelled, "Where are you guys from?" (San Diego was the answer). I ran into Kris Gruen after Delta Spirit's set and we both had the same reaction, "Holy crap! Who the hell were those guys?!?!" Plus, it seems like a bunch of people have had a similar reaction during the tour since they had run out of CDs at the merch table and they aren't even close to being done with the tour.

- By the way, I've since gotten Delta Spirit's EP I Think I've Found It and it isn't as good as their live show. It lacks a lot of the fiery intensity of their live show and comes off more as "run of the mill" pop rock. Not bad; just not as good as their live show. Having said that, their song "Gimme Some Motivation" is pretty damn good.

- What happened to the spinning planet things on the ceiling at Higher Ground? Were they just there for the Sonic Youth show?

- Tokyo Police Club looks really, really, really young; like "high school talent show young". However, despite their facial baby fat, they rocked the house. Their sound was a little thin at first but someone must have tweaked a few knobs and pushed a few slides because from about their third song on, they sound great. They played fairly straight versions of everything but I love those songs so much that I was quite happy. I loved watching their keyboardist hunch over those synths and bang on them with his fists.

- One of the things I like about the evening is that all the bands were coming on stage at different times to play with each other. The Cold War Kids joined Delta Spirit, Delta Spirit joined Tokyo Police Club and all thirteen musicians were on stage during part of The Cold War Kids' set. That fact, along with the similar sound of the three bands, gave the night a feeling of one big music event rather than three bands who happen to all be playing on the same night.

- The Cold War Kids' bass player is kind of a peculiar guy to watch but I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He had this sort of weird stare he'd use when he'd look at the crowd. His face was expressionless but he'd hold his head and eyes perfectly steady and just piercingly stare at people in the crowd. Plus, he never stops moving on stage. It's like watching a cross between Flea and a mental patient.

- The crowd was much larger than I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be me and a few thousand square feet of empty floor space. However, there were about 200 people there. Still a small crowd for the big room but at least it didn't feel awkward being there.

- The Cold War Kids blasted through all of the more popular songs off their album Robbers and Cowards in the first half of their set which I though would lead to a lackluster second half but it didn't. About halfway through their set, all the musicians from the first two bands came out on stage to join them for "Saint John". I've never been a big fan of that song but with twelve percussionists bouncing around on stage, it was great entertainment. Here's a video of the scene. As usual with my little Casio, the sound is horrible but it gives you a good view of what was going on.

- CWK also debuted a new song for the first time during the show. called "Brainstorm 3 A.M.". I guess VT is a good place to try out new material on stage for the first time since very few people will see it if you screw it up. I filmed it but the sound quality sucks so bad, it isn't worth posting.

- In a bit of an April Fool's trick, they let the fans clap for a few minutes at the end of the set before turning the house lights on. I was fine with no encore but make the decision quickly. Don't leave people hanging.

- The show posters that they handed out at the end were pretty cool. If anyone wants mine, it's on the top of my fridge. My wife isn't keen on hanging them up in the house. So, if anyone wants it, let me know.

- Oh, and by the way, everyone played their own instruments unlike at the Lindsey Buckingham show across town that night.

Delta Spirit | Gimme Some Motivation | Buy

Deep Soda | Higher Ground | Apr 20th

Apr 20th is shaping up to be a busy night for music. Besides the Yo La Tengo show in Northampton and Kris Gruen's show at Langdon Street (which I'll post about soon), Burlington's Deep Soda will be playing the big room at Higher Ground with RAQ.

It's almost impossible to pigeon hole Deep Soda into any one genre or description since their sound changes from album to album, song to song and verse to verse. Sometimes they flash brief animated jingles with flushes of strings and chorus and then they're singing a capella through a synthesizer and then they're rocking bar chords. If they were folkies, their deconstruction of the modern song format would make them eligible for the freak folk moniker but they plug-in and rock much too hard for that scene. So, let's just go with "rock deconstructionists with a pop bent".

Deep Soda | Red Carpet | Buy
Deep Soda | Viy | Buy

Letter to the Editor | Burlington Free Press

I happened to catch Paul Kaza's review of Lindsey Buckingham's show at the Flynn Center in yesterday's Burlington Free Press and it sort of pissed me off. So, I thought I'd write to the editor like a cranky old man.

You can read the full review here.

Dear Editor,

I'm writing you concerning the giant dick slap Paul Kaza laid on every musician that has graced a stage in Vermont since 1977. The offense occurred during Mr. Kaza's review of Lindsey Buckingham's show Sunday night at the Flynn Center which appeared in the Burlington Free Press on Tuesday.

Early in his review, Mr. Kaza lets the hyperbole fly when he uncorks, "it was one of the most superlative rock performances in the last three decades". WOW! Now, normally, that statement alone would be enough to warrant a letter to the editor pointing out all of the other great acts that have come through the Green Mountains over the last three decades. However, I'm more annoyed with Mr. Kaza's next revelation.

After heaping praise on the brilliance of the performance, Mr. Kaza then points out that, for part of the show, the bass tracks weren't played by a musician but simply pre-recorded and mixed in at the soundboard. Geezum crow! Mr. Kaza thinks a show using pre-recorded music was one of the best live performances in Vermont since the Carter administration?!?!

Out of respect to every musician that has ever had the guts to stand on stage and play their own instruments, Mr. Kaza should have immediately eliminated Lindsey Buckingham's show from even being considered worthy of such adulation. Perhaps, Mr. Kaza should have come down off of his emotional high of hearing "Go Your Own Way" for the 4,513th time before he sat down to accurately assess the concert.

New J DiMenna EP Released Today

If He Could Speak Now by J DiMenna (Myspace page) is a digital-only live EP comprised of an XM Café performance and a show in DiMenna's former home base of Asheville, NC, and includes 2 new tunes. This is a follow-up to J's fantastic debut release, Awkward Buildings, that came out a year ago.

Video for Preacher, directed by Roland Becerra:


Video for Getting All You Want:

Yo La Tengo | Coming to Northampton | April 20th

Most of the time I'm pimping a show around here, it's for bands I've never seen live since the bands are often on their maiden tour. So, while I know I like the album, I really don't know how they are live. Talking up a Yo La Tengo show is the complete opposite. They've made countless laps around the club circuit and I've been lucky to catch them about 15-20 times. So, with great confidence, I say "Driving two hours down to Northampton (@ Academy of Music) to see Yo La Tengo on a Friday night is well worth the trip."

Not only do they keep their entire discography alive in their set lists, they constantly reinterpret their songs which makes for an exciting night of music. You never know what you are going to get during any given show. Plus, you get occasional covers, honored requests from the crowd and some amusing stage banter.

An additional bonus is that The Clean guitarist, and longtime YLT friend, David Kilgour will be opening for them. So, there is an excellent chance, he'll join them on stage at some point too.

Yo La Tengo | Did I tell You (Live)
Yo La Tengo | Gates of Steel (Live) (Devo cover)
Yo La Tengo | Sheena Is a Punk Rocker (Live) (Ramones cover)

Live video of "Little Eyes":


Live video of "Cherry Chapstick":


Photo courtesy of dmguz.

Peter Bjorn & John | Fujiya & Miyagi | Coming to Montreal | May 5th

I love it when my favorite bands tour together. It makes for a mini-festival without having to deal with camping, mud and sunscreen. Well, come May 5th, two of my recent faves, Peter Bjorn & John and Fujiya & Miyagi will be rolling in Montreal to play Le National on May 5th.

Rather than retype my feelings about all these guys, here's some links to past posts:

Fujiya & Miyagi rave
Peter Bjorn & John post about new album and Casey's review in Dusted
Peter Bjorn & John rave

If you aren't in the Montreal area, Pitchfork has some other tour dates.

Peter Bjorn & John | Amsterdam | Buy
Fujiya & Miyagi | Ankle Injuries | Buy

Peter Bjorn & John's video for "Objects of my Affection":


Fujiya & Miyagi's video for "Collarbone":